With less than a month to go until the 2023 NFL draft, we’re seeing more mock draft scenarios for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Our friend Curt Popejoy at Draft Wire released a brand-new 3-round mock draft, which hits three needs that are perceived as some of the biggest for the Chiefs. Could some of these players end up in Kansas City for 2023 and beyond?
Here’s a quick review of the players sent to the Chiefs in this mock draft:
Round 1, Pick 31. Tennessee WR Jalin Hyatt
I can’t say that I’d be thrilled with this selection for the Chiefs at No. 31 as it reeks of desperation. Sure, Hyatt is coming off a career year when he was voted a unanimous All-American and the Biletnikoff Award winner, but his game isn’t quite as refined as other players in this draft class. He’s proven that he can stretch the field vertically from the slot and the outside, but there is a bit of a sense that he’s a one-trick-pony (albeit a very successful trick). I think you can get him involved early on with the vertical game and some manufactured touches because of his speed, but the question is whether his game will ever grow beyond those facets.
Round 2, Pick 63: Auburn EDGE Derick Hall
Hall is a fairly common pick for Kansas City in the second (or sometimes even first) round of the draft. He’s a hair under 6-foot-3 and just 254 pounds, which would put him just a bit smaller than Steve Spagnuolo typically goes for at the edge rusher position. I think the big thing that’s overlooked about Hall is that he had one of the best 10-yard splits of any edge rusher in this draft class with only Nolan Smith and YaYa Diaby boasting a better get-off at the combine. If the Chiefs find themselves looking for speed off the edge, there are few better prospects in Round 2.
Round 3, Pick 95: Pittsbugh OT Carter Warren
This might be the highest I’ve seen Warren go in a mock draft thus far. I am confident he would be considered a top-100 pick had he not suffered a season-ending injury knee injury in October of 2022. He has 39 career starts at left tackle with four pressures allowed (one sack) in the 106 snaps he played prior to the injury this past year. We know that he had a formal interview with the team at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine, so the interest is real. Could he be someone brought in to eventually compete with Lucas Niang at right tackle?
